A 27-year-old electrician, Fatawu Mumuni, was on Thursday sentenced to four years imprisonment in hard labour by a Kumasi Circuit Court for stealing electrical cables worth GH¢1,200.00.
Mumuni was also ordered to pay the full cost of the cables or serve additional three years in jail.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Police Inspector Philip Yao Bebli told the court presided over by Mr Justice Richard Mac Kogyapwah that the complainant, Yakubu Mohammed, and the convict, both live at Kenyase in Kumasi.
In early January, Mohammed engaged Mumuni to help determine the cost of wiring a house he is building.
After submission of the estimates, the two went to the market to buy the materials and kept them in the house of a witness in the case.
Mumuni without the knowledge of the complainant went to where the cables were being kept to take them away but was prevented.
He later sneaked back to the house when none of the occupants was present and stole the items.
After the crime he went into hiding but police investigations led to his arrest.
The prosecution said Mumuni admitted the offence in his statement.